Children's Gaze Research Articles

Affective–motivational brain responses to direct gaze in children with autism spectrum disorder

It is unclear why children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to be inattentive to, or even avoid eye contact. The goal of this study was to investigate affective-motivational brain responses to direct gaze in children with ASD. To this end, we combined two measurements: skin conductance responses (SCR), a robust arousal measure, and asymmetry in frontal electroencephalography (EEG) activity which is associated with motivational approach and avoidance tendencies. We also explored whether degree of eye openness and face familiarity modulated these responses. Skin conductance responses and frontal EEG activity were recorded from 14 children with ASD and 15 typically developing children whilst they looked at familiar and unfamiliar faces with eyes shut, normally open or wide-open. Stimuli were presented in such a way that they appeared to be looming towards the children. In typically developing children, there were no significant differences in SCRs between the different eye conditions, whereas in the ASD group the SCRs were attenuated to faces with closed eyes and increased as a function of the degree of eye openness. In both groups, familiar faces elicited marginally greater SCRs than unfamiliar faces. In typically developing children, normally open eyes elicited greater relative left-sided frontal EEG activity (associated with motivational approach) than shut eyes and wide-open eyes. In the ASD group, there were no significant differences between the gaze conditions in frontal EEG activity. Collectively, the results replicate previous finding in showing atypical modulation of arousal in response to direct gaze in children with ASD but do not support the assumption that this response is associated with an avoidant motivational tendency. Instead, children with ASD may lack normative approach-related motivational response to eye contact.

Neural bases of gaze and emotion processing in children with autism spectrum disorders

Abnormal eye contact is a core symptom of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), though little is understood of the neural bases of gaze processing in ASD. Competing hypotheses suggest that individuals with ASD avoid eye contact due to the anxiety-provoking nature of direct eye gaze or that eye-gaze cues hold less interest or significance to children with ASD. The current study examined the effects of gaze direction on neural processing of emotional faces in typically developing (TD) children and those with ASD. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 16 high-functioning children and adolescents with ASD and 16 TD controls viewed a series of faces depicting emotional expressions with either direct or averted gaze. Children in both groups showed significant activity in visual-processing regions for both direct and averted gaze trials. However, there was a significant group by gaze interaction such that only TD children showed reliably greater activity in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex for direct versus averted gaze. The ASD group showed no difference between direct and averted gaze in response to faces conveying negative emotions. These results highlight the key role of eye gaze in signaling communicative intent and suggest altered processing of the emotional significance of direct gaze in children with ASD.

Do children with ASD use referential gaze to learn the name of an object? An eye-tracking study

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are reported to have difficulty in learning novel word–object associations in case of discrepancy between objects in the speaker's focus and their focus (the discrepant condition). Two eye-tracking experiments investigated this difficulty by controlling and recording children's gaze fixation. In Experiment 1's discrepant condition, typically developing (TD) children (age: 6–11 years) mapped the novel word to the novel object in the speaker's focus more frequently than children with ASD (age: 6–11 years). Additionally, the former looked at the object in the speaker's focus longer than the object in their own focus, while the latter looked at these objects for the same duration. In Experiment 2, the saliency of the object in the speaker's focus was enhanced and children with ASD (age: 6–12 years) mapped the word to the object in the speaker's focus as well as TD children (age: 6–12 years). Moreover, they looked at the object in the speaker's focus longer than the object in their focus. Comparison between experiments also confirmed improvement in performance, suggesting that the duration of gaze at an object in the speaker's focus is related to difficulty in referential word learning in children with ASD.

Imitative behaviors facilitate communicative gaze in children with autism.

Adult imitation of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) is likely to be effective in facilitating their communicative gaze behaviors. This study compared imitative behaviors to contingent, but not-imitative, behaviors in children with ASD and those with typical development (TD). The caretakers were asked to play an imitative role to explore the effects of imitation intervention on parenting. The results indicated that children with ASD gazed longer at imitative behaviors than mere contingent behaviors while children with TD gazed at their mother irrespective of her type of intervention. The present study highlights the benefits of caretakers using imitation while caring for children with ASD. The power of imitation for children with ASD suggests its therapeutic application to home-based intervention by caretakers.

Orienting to third-party conversations

Children as young as two years of age are able to learn novel object labels through overhearing, even when distracted by an attractive toy (Akhtar, 2005). The present studies varied the information provided about novel objects and examined which elements (i.e. novel versus neutral information and labels versus facts) toddlers chose to monitor, and what type of information they were more likely to learn. In Study 1, participants learned only the novel label and the novel fact containing a novel label. In Study 2, only girls learned the novel label. Neither girls nor boys learned the novel fact. In both studies, analyses of children's gaze patterns suggest that children who learned the new information strategically oriented to the third-party conversation.

Eye Gaze Provides a Window on Children's Understanding of Verbal Irony

We investigated how children solve the interpretive problem of verbal irony. Children 5 to 8 years of age and a group of adults were presented with ironic and literal remarks in the context of short puppet shows. The speaker puppet's personality was manipulated as a cue to intent; that is, speakers were described as funny or serious. We measured all participants' interpretations of the remarks and also children's eye gaze and response latencies as they made their interpretations. As expected, children were less accurate than adults in their judgments of speaker intent. Although children took longer to judge speaker intent for ironic remarks than literal remarks, eye gaze data showed no evidence that children had a literal-first bias in their processing of ironic language. Instead, children's eye gaze behavior suggested that they considered an ironic interpretation even in the earliest moments of processing. We argue that these results are most consistent with a parallel constraint satisfaction framework for irony comprehension.

Patterns of Gaze Between Parents and Children in European American and Mexican American Families

Mutual gaze has been shown to be a valuable channel of nonverbal communication. To examine mutual gaze between parents and children, 43 European American (EA) and 57 Mexican American (MA) families were coded on the occurrence of talking and gaze during a brief discussion. MA families showed lower levels of father-to-child gaze, mother-to-son gaze, and child-to-father gaze than EA families. MA families also showed less father–child mutual gaze, as well as less mother–child gaze for sons than EA families. Child gaze aversion was more common in European American families. Levels of gaze, father–child mutual gaze, and child gaze aversion all were positively correlated with acculturation. The importance of research exploring possible differences in function and meaning of gaze across cultural groups is emphasized.

Syllables as functional units in a copying task

This research used a copying task to study spelling acquisition from a perception and action perspective. First to fifth graders copied words and pseudo-words on a digitiser. Simultaneously, a camera registered the children's gaze lifts. First and second graders copied the first syllable and then produced a gaze lift to obtain information on the spelling of the second syllable. Words required fewer gaze lifts than pseudo-words. Third, fourth, and fifth graders copied the items as whole orthographic units and did not produce any gaze lifts. The analysis of movement duration revealed that, for all the children, the gesture to produce the first syllable was programmed before movement initiation. A systematic duration peak at the first letter of the items' second syllable was then observed. This indicates that the gesture to write the second syllable was programmed during the execution of its first letter. Thus, the younger children used syllables to articulate visual parsing and motor programming. The older children used whole word visual units but still organised their graphic production according to the syllable structure. Syllables therefore appear to act as functional units at both the visual and motor stages of processing during spelling acquisition.

Social behavior and cortisol reactivity in children with fragile X syndrome

To examine the association between limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (L-HPA) axis reactivity and social behavior in children with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Salivary cortisol changes and concurrent anxiety-related behaviors consistent with the behavioral phenotype of FXS were measured in 90 children with the fragile X full mutation and their 90 unaffected siblings during a social challenge task in the home. Boys and girls with FXS demonstrated more gaze aversion, task avoidance, behavioral signs of distress, and poorer vocal quality than the unaffected siblings. Multiple regression analyses showed that after accounting for effects of IQ, gender, age, quality of the home environment, and basal cortisol level, cortisol reactivity to the task was significantly associated with social gaze in children with FXS. The most gaze-aversive children with FXS had cortisol reductions, whereas those with more eye contact demonstrated the most cortisol reactivity. Unaffected siblings demonstrated an opposite pattern in which less eye contact was associated with increased cortisol reactivity. Results of the study suggest a unique relation between abnormal gaze behavior and L-HPA mediated stress reactivity in FXS.

Skin Conductance Responses to Another Person’s Gaze in Children with Autism

The effects of another person's gaze on physiological arousal were investigated by measuring skin conductance responses (SCR). Twelve able children with autism and 12 control children were shown face stimuli with straight gaze (eye contact) or averted gaze on a computer monitor. In children with autism, the responses to straight gaze were stronger than responses to averted gaze, whereas there was no difference in the responses to these gaze conditions in normally developing children. Thus, these results showed that eye gaze elicited differential pattern of SCR in normally developing children and in children with autism. It is possible that the enhanced arousal to eye contact may contribute to the abnormal gaze behaviour frequently reported in the context of autism.

Failure to read motor intentions from gaze in children with autism

A core feature of autism is the abnormal use of gaze to attribute mental states to others, and thus to predict others’ behaviour. An untested idea is whether this dysfunction is confined to mental states having a propositional content, such as beliefs and desire or extends to motor intentional states which allow one to make inferences about the actions of others. This study used kinematics to examine the ability to use gaze to inform one about the motor states of another in normal and autistic children. In each trial two participants, a model and an observer, were seated facing each other at a table. In three experimental blocks the model was requested to grasp a stimulus, to gaze towards the same stimulus, and to gaze away from the stimulus without performing any action. The task for the observer was to grasp the stimulus after having watched the model perform her task. We observed that normal children showed facilitation effects in terms of movement speed following the observation of the model grasping or simply gazing at the object. In contrast, autistic children did not show any evidence of facilitation in these conditions. Neither normal nor autistic children showed evidence of facilitation when the model's gaze was not directed towards the stimulus. These findings demonstrate that, in contrast to normal children, children with autism fail to use information from the model's action or gaze to plan their subsequent action, and that in autism the inability to use of another person's gaze produces a lack of understanding of the motor intention of others.

Taking an “intentional stance” on eye-gaze shifts: A functional neuroimaging study of social perception in children

During middle childhood, children develop an increasing understanding of intentions and other social information conveyed through dynamic facial cues such as changes in eye-gaze direction. Recent work in our laboratory has focused on using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in adults to map the neural circuitry subserving the visual analysis of others' actions and the intentions underlying these actions. In these studies, the superior temporal sulcus (STS) region has been continually implicated in processing shifts in eye gaze. Further, these studies have indicated that STS activity is modulated by the context within which eye-gaze shifts occur, suggesting that this region is involved in social perception via its role in the analysis of the intentions of observed actions. Still, no studies have investigated the neural circuitry supporting eye-gaze processing in children. We used event-related fMRI to examine brain activity in 7- to 10-year-old healthy children observing an animated virtual actor who shifted her eyes towards either a target object or empty space. Consistent with prior studies in adults, the STS, middle temporal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule were sensitive to the intentions underlying the stimulus character's eye movements. These findings suggest that the neural circuitry underlying the processing of eye gaze and the detection of intentions conveyed through shifts in eye gaze in children are similar to that found previously in adults. We discuss these findings and potential implications for mapping the neurodevelopment of the social cognition and social perception abnormalities characteristic of autism.

O tema do duplo pode esclarecer sobre o autismo e a linguagem?

A origem deste artigo foi o interesse pelo tema do duplo, no contexto do tratamento dos distúrbios psíquicos severos da criança. Surgiram então questões tão distintas que podem apenas ser indicadas aqui, embora tenham esta origem comum. Se forem pertinentes, elas exigirão um desenvolvimento próprio posterior, na confrontação com a clínica: Como as crianças, e as crianças autistas, começam a falar? Qual o papel do "duplo idênticodo "duplo diferente", e da duplicação na subjetivação, assim como na aquisição da linguagem? Quais os significados da inversão especular? Quais os diferentes "níveis de reconhecimento da imagem especular" ? O que há de êxito e de tropeço na ecolalia? Ε possível articular literalidade e lateralidade? Ε comparar a repetição na psicose e no luto? Mesmo a partir de um ponto de vista lacaniano, referimo-nos, sobre a duplicação, a textos kleinianos esclarecedores. Parece necessária uma maior articulação entre a predominância da palavra e do olhar no investimento da criança, e seus eventuais desdobramentos. As crianças citadas foram observadas por terapeutas no CEM PI, ou em atividades do cotidiano, ou numa psicoterapia na instituição (dois últimos casos).

Mothers' use of imitative play for facilitating social responsiveness and toy play in young autistic children

AbstractThe effectiveness of imitating an autistic child's actions as a means for promoting social responsiveness and creative toy play was explored. Fifteen autistic children between the ages of 2 and 6 years and their mothers were assessed before and after a 2-week period during which they engaged in imitative play for 20 minutes per day. At the pre-intervention assessment, autistic children's gaze at mother's face was of longer duration, and their toy play was more creative during imitative play than during a free play session. At the post-intervention assessment, significant cumulative increases in duration of gaze at mother's face and creative toy play were found. Children's positive behavior changes were not found to be a function of developmental level of imitative ability, play skills, Vineland social age, IQ, or severity of autistic symptoms. Instead, the majority of children showed positive responses to this interactive strategy, regardless of these individual characteristics.

Prosodic aspects of motherese: Effects on gaze and responsiveness in developmentally disabled children

This study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of using voice tones (prosody) typical of “motherese” ( O. K. Garnica, 1977, in C. E. Snow & C. A. Ferguson (Eds.), Talking to Children: Language Input and Aquisition, pp. 63–88, Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press) on responsiveness and eye gaze in children with severe handicaps. Specificially, two conditions, “motherese” and “conversational” voice tones, were compared. The current study presents data from naturalistic observations of six children, and controlled experimental manipulations with four children. The results of the naturalistic observations in Study 1 suggested a positive relationship between the use of voice tones typical of “motherese” and responsiveness and eye gaze. Further analysis using an alternating treatments design in Study 2 revealed similar results. Specifically, the use of prosody associated with “motherese” showed increased levels of eye gaze when compared to the use of “conversational tones.” The results suggest the importance of considering normal development in analyzing social and teaching interactions between teachers and severely handicapped children.

The nonverbal context of mothers' speech to infants

Six infants were videotaped twice between six and ten months of age while engaged in a free play session with their mothers. Division of the mothers' utterances into verbal episodes revealed that for all mothers, the majority of episodes began in response to something done by the child: from session 1 to session 2, the number of episodes initiated by a shift in the child's gaze decreased and the number initiated by a child action increased. During both sessions, a large percentage of maternal utterances referred to an object within the child's current frame of reference. It is argued that such a close correspondence between maternal speech and a contiguous nonverbal context is helpful for language development.